Hippie in a lawn chair with surplus weather ballons and a pellet pistol????

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Hippie in a lawn chair with surplus weather ballons and a pellet pistol????

Posted: 7/30/2005 10:54:26 PM EDT

Is this a true story?? Some hippie in a lawn chair used weather ballons and went up so high he was actually in jet lanes?? Urban Legend??

Posted: 7/30/2005 10:55:55 PM EDT

[#1]

Story

Mythbusters also did this one... it worked.

Posted: 7/30/2005 10:56:04 PM EDT

[#2]

True - except he wasn't a hippie.

The Mythbuster guys did a show on it.

Posted: 7/30/2005 10:58:46 PM EDT

[#3]

yes. And the FAA fined him too.

Posted: 7/30/2005 10:59:09 PM EDT

[#4]

I don't remember any Hippie but in LA a guy set up a lawn chair with sandwiches and a six pack. Oh, and weather ballons, he did make it into the flight paths of LAX. I don.t remember how he got down but he was arrested. Joe

Huh, fined by the FAA, I didn't know he later killed himself.

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:01:20 PM EDT

[#5]

Some needs too send some ballons to DoubleFeed.

He's small enough, call it the B.O.T Ballons of Truth

Sgatr15

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:02:04 PM EDT

[#6]

Yep. It's true.

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:06:44 PM EDT

[#7]

Poor guy was a bit "touched". He killed himself a bit later.

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:08:11 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Poor guy was a bit "touched". He killed himself a bit later.

I'm telling you...DF is PERFECT for this test.

Sgat1r5

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:13:00 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
True - except he wasn't a hippie.

The Mythbuster guys did a show on it.

and showed a interview with the guy.
archive footage.

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:18:09 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Poor guy was a bit "touched". He killed himself a bit later.

Are you sure you're not talking about "The Fan Man"?

Miller made national headlines in 1993 when, while living in Nevada, he flew into a Caesar’s Palace boxing match between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield, to protest what he saw as violence in spectator sports. The parachute he used was motorized, powered by a giant fan. "Boxing has had many bizarre scenes in its history," Espn.com declared, "but perhaps none has been as weird as what (occurred) during the heavyweight championship fight between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield."

Miller descended into the second minute of the seventh round of the fight, after circling Caesar’s Palace for 25 minutes. The cords of his chute tangled in the overhead lights as he came down into the ring wearing a white crash helmet. When he hit the canvas, one of his legs got caught in the top rope of the ring. Fans dragged him to the ground and beat him. One security officer struck Miller 20 times. He was rushed to a nearby hospital as spectators cut his parachute into pieces for souvenirs. After his release from the hospital, Miller was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he was charged with dangerous flying and released on $200 bail.

The powered paraglider incident earned Miller fans who called him "notorious," foes who called him an "idiot extraordinaire" and the nickname "Fan Man." The episode was widely reported and even recreated on an episode of "The Simpsons," where Homer started a boxing career and had a match interrupted by "Fan Man."

He killed himself in Alaska in kind of a gruesome manner. Tied some rope to a tree truck, made a slipknot and put it around his neck, then got in his car and gunned the engine.

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:21:03 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Poor guy was a bit "touched". He killed himself a bit later.

Are you sure you're not talking about "The Fan Man"?

www.anchoragepress.com/photos/fanman.jpg

Miller made national headlines in 1993 when, while living in Nevada, he flew into a Caesar’s Palace boxing match between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield, to protest what he saw as violence in spectator sports. The parachute he used was motorized, powered by a giant fan. "Boxing has had many bizarre scenes in its history," Espn.com declared, "but perhaps none has been as weird as what (occurred) during the heavyweight championship fight between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield."

Miller descended into the second minute of the seventh round of the fight, after circling Caesar’s Palace for 25 minutes. The cords of his chute tangled in the overhead lights as he came down into the ring wearing a white crash helmet. When he hit the canvas, one of his legs got caught in the top rope of the ring. Fans dragged him to the ground and beat him. One security officer struck Miller 20 times. He was rushed to a nearby hospital as spectators cut his parachute into pieces for souvenirs. After his release from the hospital, Miller was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he was charged with dangerous flying and released on $200 bail.

The powered paraglider incident earned Miller fans who called him "notorious," foes who called him an "idiot extraordinaire" and the nickname "Fan Man." The episode was widely reported and even recreated on an episode of "The Simpsons," where Homer started a boxing career and had a match interrupted by "Fan Man."

He killed himself in Alaska in kind of a gruesome manner. Tied some rope to a tree truck, made a slipknot and put it around his neck, then got in his car and gunned the engine.

as long as he didnt hurt anyone else.... more power to him.......

Posted: 7/30/2005 11:22:38 PM EDT

[#12]

... You gotta love aviators. I absolutely hate heights - but it pays the bills.

Posted: 7/31/2005 3:55:24 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Are you sure you're not talking about "The Fan Man"?

No, he's talking about Larry Walters. Read all about it and check out the pictures here

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Hippie in a lawn chair with surplus weather ballons and a pellet pistol????

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